Being Content God's WaySample

Roots That Go Down Deep Into Christ

My wife, Katie, and I were walking through the woods hand in hand, enjoying observing the trees around us. Many trees were enormous, old, and gnarly but healthy and thriving. Unseen by the two of us, the trees’ vast root system stretched below ground to gather needed resources. We only see the tree above ground, but the roots below provide the strength. Similarly, the essential part of Christian contentment is the part nobody sees—the strength Christ provides. We will discuss these verses in depth in chapter ten, but for now, as the apostle Paul wrote, “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I can do all things through [Christ] who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:11, 13). We must have roots deep into Christ to obtain the strength to be content.

The Old Testament looked forward to this:

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit (Jeremiah 17:7−8).

He “is not anxious” during trials (“in the year of drought”) but instead is content because he trusts the Lord. Contentment does not come naturally through human effort. Instead, it comes supernaturally from Christ. Contentment is not developed through mystical or transcendental behavior. Instead, it develops practically. We spend time with Christ in prayer. We spend time with the church, the manifestation of Christ in His physical absence, because to be with the church is to be with Christ. We repent of the sin that compromises our relationship with Christ. We read the Word to know Christ better and obey Him. He said, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock” (Matthew 7:24−25). Both houses in the parable received Christ’s teaching, but the one that obeyed had a strong foundation—roots going down into Him.